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More than 240,000 immigrants are expected to arrive in Canada this year. Many will settle in the GTA. For some, their dreams may take years to build. For others, those dreams may never materialize.

To explore that experience, the Star is publishing an occasional series in the words of newcomers, both recent and more established. If you would like to tell your story, email dzblack@thestar.ca

Antoine Derose, a 61-year-old immigrant from Haiti, came to Canada in 1978. One of six children, his life in Port-au-Prince was “idyllic.” He grew up in a “protected” environment and knew little of the poverty or dictatorships that crippled the island. But after graduating from law school, reality hit.

Unable to find a job because his family was not part of the “political machine,” he immigrated here at age 27. He settled in Toronto, learning English and eventually studying liberal arts and social work at York University.

His first job was at a window-manufacturing plant where he was paid $4.25 an hour. He went on to work as head of shipping at another firm for 11 years. Today, he works at Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health as a bilingual program consultant.

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A Canadian citizen, he has also worked in Toronto’s French-language schools and served as a trustee for the French-language school board. While Canada is his home, Derose continues to have strong ties to his birthplace, most recently developing a post-traumatic stress program to train doctors in Haiti, with the head of international health at CAMH. The pair is awaiting funding for the program.

Here is an edited version of a conversation with him.

Q: What did you think when you came to Canada?

A: I was totally disconnected to everything . . . but it was so exciting. I always looked at snow in the movies. Growing up in Haiti and seeing the movies and watching the snow fall, that was the most romantic thing for me. So I went through a honeymoon phase. I came on Feb. 14th, late in the evening. It was cold. I didn’t care about the cold. My (first) wife and I went to McDonalds in the morning . . . It was a very exciting time for me. But after the first excitement, the homesickness started settling in.

Q: Do you have memories of any bad experiences after you came here?

A: I grew up in a very small circle. Everybody knew me. They knew my family. I came from a very solid strong middle-class family from generation to generation. Suddenly here I became an unknown factor. I had to get a job. It was difficult. I thought I could come here, make some money and go back. That was not going to be the case at all. I had homesickness for a long, long time . . . Then, I hit a wall in 1987. There were some horrible massacres that took place in Haiti. There was an election — the first election after Baby Doc. The army started shooting people that were voting in line . . . That was the moment that I said, ‘There is no going back.’

Q: Did you face discrimination?

A: I never faced any blatant discrimination. But in the course of re-educating myself I have learned so much. In retrospect, I realize many things happened to me that are the most subtle aspect of racism.

Q: What does Canada represent to you?

A: Canada is my home country for sure. I see myself as if I’m a father or mother who has two children: one biological, one adopted. And I love them equally, Haiti being my biological country and Canada being my adopted country.

Q: Do you feel a conflict between the two?

A: No, it’s like you may have a troubled child, but this is your child . . . I know lots of people who don’t want anything to do with Haiti. They say enough is enough. But I would never say that.

Q: Do you have any advice for other immigrants coming to Canada?

A: The advice I would give to a newcomer coming to Canada: adapt to the new situation. You have to be open-minded. I see so many people with so many good prospects and they get caught up in ‘Oh, I used to be a doctor, I cannot do that job’ or ‘I used to be an engineer or I was working for the government.’ They end up in that vicious circle and not able to break out.

The first year is going to be hard . . . But you have to tighten up your belt and do what you need to do. The two things I always tell people: School and work, they go together. You have to study. You have to learn.

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